Ebbw Vale line improvements

[Woolos 22]

On the first day of a regular service Travel on the 1142 ebbw vale Town to Newport there were 13 passengers on the train.to 1342 Newport. To ebbw vale there were 3 passengers from Newport.
There were no publicity of the service.starting today

 

[CapitalStar378]

On the first day of a regular service Travel on the 1142 ebbw vale Town to Newport there were 13 passengers on the train.to 1342 Newport. To ebbw vale there were 3 passengers from Newport.
There were no publicity of the service.starting today

It will be interesting to see the demand for Newport trains after so many years of a Cardiff only service, once people actually know about it

 

[John R]

There were a handful on the 1435 departure from Ebbw Vale town and a few more were picked up en route. I’d suggest that this is an unusual new service in that most of the route is not new, so there is not the same razzmatazz as you would get with a completely new service (eg Okehampton). And as you say, there was no publicity, so it will take a little bit of time for people to become aware of it.

 

[87electric]

Is there any reason why Newport can not be added to the Valleys day rover?

 

[John R]

Is there any reason why Newport can not be added to the Valleys day rover?

I have wondered that - although in another thread the anomaly of fares from the main valleys to Newport compared with to Ebbw Vale was noted.

 

[robert thomas]

I have wondered that - although in another thread the anomaly of fares from the main valleys to Newport compared with to Ebbw Vale was noted.

I did raise this with TfW some months ago but got no reply

 

[anthony263]

Is there any reason why Newport can not be added to the Valleys day rover?

It will be getting added to the rover once the metro is fully up and running I was told when I asked on one of the local Facebook groups.

We'll probably have to wait and see what happens its probably not going to happen until 2025 at the earliest

 

[Dai Corner]

The official launch is today, apparently

Ebbw Vale delivers regular rail services to Newport after six decades

Regular rail services between Ebbw Vale and Newport have returned after more than 60 years.

www.southwalesargus.co.uk

DIRECT trains between Newport and Ebbw Vale are finally running again - after 60 years.


The long-awaited new service has returned today, February 1.

Funded by a £70 million investment by the Welsh Government, 30 trains will now run every day on the line.

Deputy climate change minister Lee Waters MS, with a responsibility for transport, has launched the new service today, February 1, at Llanhilleth station.

 

[Western 52]

Let's hope TfW can resource this new service properly and keep it running reliability.

 

[geoffk]

According to "Today's Railways UK", the reason for the delayed start date was lack of stock. This still seems to be the case with the Liverpool - Chester service as it's still two-hourly.

 

[Dai Corner]

According to "Today's Railways UK", the reason for the delayed start date was lack of stock. This still seems to be the case with the Liverpool - Chester service as it's still two-hourly.

According to RTT, today we have 153913 + 153382 & 150281 on the Newport services and 158832 & 150255 on the Cardiffs. Delays of 6-10 minutes starting with the 0643 Newport-Ebbw Vale Town which left 9 late after late arrival of the ECS from Canton.

 

[snowball]

Press release with video

Celebration as passengers start to benefit from multi-million-pound upgrade of Ebbw Vale railway line

The completion of the multi-million-pound transformation of the Ebbw Vale line has been celebrated, following the introduction of direct train services between Ebbw Vale Town and Newport.

www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk

The completion of the multi-million-pound transformation of the Ebbw Vale line has been celebrated, following the introduction of direct train services between Ebbw Vale Town and Newport.

Representatives from Network Rail, Transport for Wales, the Welsh Government, Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council and the local community – including children from St Illtyd’s Primary School – marked the end of the project at an event in Llanhilleth yesterday.

After a reception at Llanhilleth Miners Institute, Welsh Government deputy minister for climate change Lee Waters cut a ribbon and unveiled a plaque on the new platform at Llanhilleth as those who made the project possible – and those who will benefit from the upgrades – came together to officially recognise the improvements.

The celebration marks the end of a two-year project which saw teams from Network Rail, Siemens and AmcoGiffen deliver a package of upgrades including:

The final 1.5 km of track upgrades between Crosskeys and Crumlin to complete a seven-mile loop for trains to pass between Crosskeys and Aberbeeg
An additional platform each at Newbridge and Llanhilleth stations
A footbridge with lifts at Llanhilleth making the station fully accessible for the first time
A new signalling system around the Park Junction area to help improve the resilience and reliability of passenger and freight journeys

It is all part of the significant investment to provide an hourly service between Newport and Ebbw Vale Town – the first direct services between the locations in more than 60 years. Direct hourly trains will continue to run between Ebbw Vale Town and Cardiff, effectively doubling the number of trains serving the valley.

The £70m brand-new track and station enhancements have been funded by the Welsh Government via a loan to Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council, with the Department for Transport and Network Rail providing a further £22m to deliver signalling upgrades and the replacement of Crumlin River bridge.

The project also saw the widening and replacement of the railway bridge over Bridge Street, Newbridge, together with completion of significant embankment strengthening works along the line.

While most of the work has now been completed, follow-up work will continue on the track up and down the Ebbw Vale line, with the majority taking place overnight to minimise disruption to services. There will also be full-day closures of the line on the following Sundays, which will mean buses replacing trains between Ebbw Vale Town and Cardiff Central/Newport: 11, 18 and 25 February.

 

[John R]

Out of curiosity, were the signalling changes around Park Junction necessary to enable the new service, as two trains per hour in each direction is hardly an intensive service for the box to handle.

 

[Signal_Box]

Out of curiosity, were the signalling changes around Park Junction necessary to enable the new service, as two trains per hour in each direction is hardly an intensive service for the box to handle.

No, Park Junction was handling the Newport to Cross Keys (when it ran) as good as the new section of Ebbw workstation is.

Newport to Park Junction was upgraded for regular passenger operation back in 2009 Newport area resignalling.

The only change aside from the additional double track north of Cross Keys is the addition of an option between Park Junction and Park North Junction is that both the UP and DN Western valley lines are no bi directional.

In fact the new scheme has reduced flexibility as you can no longer turn back trains at Cross Keys, as the points have been reused at Aberbeeg.

£70m to reduce flexibility which will have an impact on performance, regards to units on the line there regularly “stepped up” as in diagramed unit works the UP service vice laying over to reduce the unit requirement but knocks time keeping.

 

[Dai Corner]

No, Park Junction was handling the Newport to Cross Keys (when it ran) as good as the new section of Ebbw workstation is.

Newport to Park Junction was upgraded for regular passenger operation back in 2009 Newport area resignalling.

The only change aside from the additional double track north of Cross Keys is the addition of an option between Park Junction and Park North Junction is that both the UP and DN Western valley lines are no bi directional.

In fact the new scheme has reduced flexibility as you can no longer turn back trains at Cross Keys, as the points have been reused at Aberbeeg.

£70m to reduce flexibility which will have an impact on performance, regards to units on the line there regularly “stepped up” as in diagramed unit works the UP service vice laying over to reduce the unit requirement but knocks time keeping.

I suppose the closure of Park Junction box reduces the number of signallers required? It will take a long time to recoup that £70m through reduced staff costs though!

I see signals are still prefixed 'PJ' even though they're controlled from Cardiff now.

 

[John R]

I suppose the closure of Park Junction box reduces the number of signallers required? It will take a long time to recoup that £70m through reduced staff costs though!

I see signals are still prefixed 'PJ' even though they're controlled from Cardiff now.

Yes, but that’s an efficiency saving, rather than being necessary for the new service. Good to see that Network Rail picked up that cost though, rather than the project sponsors fitting the bill.

 

[MarkyT]

Yes, but that’s an efficiency saving, rather than being necessary for the new service. Good to see that Network Rail picked up that cost though, rather than the project sponsors fitting the bill.

There will likely have been funding from the renewals budget for these old asset replacements.

 

[Signal_Box]

I suppose the closure of Park Junction box reduces the number of signallers required? It will take a long time to recoup that £70m through reduced staff costs though!

I see signals are still prefixed 'PJ' even though they're controlled from Cardiff now.

Ebbw workstation has three different signal prefixes.

CF - Pengam to Marshfield ish Q
NT - Marshfield to Ebbw Junction
PJ - Ebbw Junction to Ebbw Vale (former Park control area).